My 4th of July party might have been the biggest disaster of a party I've had yet. The advantage of diasterous parties, however, is that they are so memorable. This one will live in my guests' memories for many Independence Days to come.

First of all, the guest list was a bit fluid. Who did I invite? Who RSVP'ed? I should really be more organized about stuff like that. Maybe if I updated my Palm Pilot. So how many were coming? How many burgers should I buy? (You didn't think I'd actually pat them out did you?) 48 burgers. 32 hot dogs. 16 Brautwursts. Who knew how hungry they'd be.

Everything started benignly (like my.... nevermind.) A few guests arrived an hour early, so the prep time got cut a bit short. That was no problem since my 11 year old son was so terrific about helping. (He's buttering me up so I'll buy him Halo2. Now I don't want to buy it because he's being so helpful and I don't want him to stop. How long can I stretch this out?)

Anyway, after most everyone was here - about 4o, and I was just firing up the grill, a big storm rolled in. What a doozy! It knocked down trees in the neighborhood. (damn Bradford Pears.) It was raining sideways. My noble brother-in-law, the marathon runner, martyred himself and grilled during this 30 minute typhoon. The lightening was dazzling and the thunder was eardrum splitting. You could feel it. We were in dead center of the storm cell.

My power went out. So now I have 40 dripping wet party guests huddled in my downstairs. Some kids are screaming with each boom, seeking shelter. Several ended up on the front porch to enjoy the organic fireworks. I did a quick excavation of my garage and some of the guests helped me haul in some tables and chairs for additional indoor seating.

When I finally sat down with a plate of delicious foods, a panicked girl burst through the garage door to report that my basement was flooding. I thought, flooding? Probably not. Oh shit, the sump pump and supplemental pump are electric. Buckets of rain. She's right.

I went downstairs where 10 kids were simply watching water pour under the door and soak the toys and blankets comprising their fort without thinking to move anything. They all had towels around their necks from the pool so I ordered them to drop their towels in the water. Once they comprehended the situation and understood that towels work well to soak up water, they reacted. We ended up forming a bucket brigade up the steps of my basement with me in the murky well passing up bail water. It's the newest rage in party games. I think they were delighted.

By the time the basement flood was averted, the rain stopped. The thunder kept rumbling, so the pool was still off limits. I broke out some of the sparklers and smoke bombs early. Then the "ground blossoms." No one even got burned.

The last guests left by 10:30. I drove my son over to a friends and stayed for a glass of wine to soothe my nerves. They had left for the fireworks in the city park. Her son told me I had the best party ever. It's all in your perspective, huh?